Notes on Eric Mangini’s 2012 Hartford Football Camp for High Schoolers

by Cleveland Frowns on September 12, 2012

Back in June I mentioned that I was in Hartford, Connecticut for Eric Mangini’s eleventh annual football fundamentals camp for high schoolers and that I’d write something up on the experience. As time passed before I had a proper chance to get to writing, I figured it was just well to wait until football season came back around so, here we are:

Camp Mangini takes place over a sprawling area of park land and school property; picture one of those huge sports complexes you see in Strongsville or Kent or Jackson, and picture it in an urban setting. But picture every inch of it being used by kids having the time of their lives, and picture enough volunteers who coordinate every detail (just the way Mangini likes it) and keep it running like clockwork. It’s an impressive operation.

About the only person who didn’t have a specific job last year was me. And if you know me you know this is rare, but I was so impressed by how hard everyone was working and how well put together the event was that before long I was running errands, checking on the back fields and driving a golf cart all over Hartford.

It doesn’t take long on arriving at the camp to get an idea about why everyone is working so hard, and it’s not just what it is about the kind of attention teenage football players will pay when they’re in a room and on the field with a bunch of NFL players and coaches. Hartford is one of the most povertyridden cities in America. Also one of its oldest, and formerly the insurance capital of the world, the city is a hothouse for the wealth inequality that’s leveled the country’s middle class and driven an unprecedentedgap between its haves and have-nots. There’s gated mansions and bucolic suburban developments nestled into the rolling wooded landscape, and there’s housing projects, with not so much in between. Mangini’s alma mater Bulkeley High School (pronounced “buckley”), which serves as the camp’s headquarters, is bordered by projects itself.

When Mangini attended Bulkeley, 11% of its students were white. “All different colors and tribes of kids” would show up at Mangini’s house to swim on hot days, according to Mangini’s brother-in-law Harry Bellucci in a 2010 profile by Terry Pluto.

Retired Bulkeley coach Graham Martin describes the school in those days as “gang infested.”

And one of Mangini’s best friends and teammates at Bulkeley, Pepe Santana, “the toughest guy in Hartford as a high school junior” according to Mangini, was shot through the back of the head in a gang ordered execution shortly after graduation.

Mangini’s view of an important difference between himself and the least fortunate of his old classmates was apparent in the introductory speech he gave to the volunteer coaches — about 200 in all, including Rex* and Rob Ryan, Brian Cox, Brian Daboll, Mike Devlin, Jerome Henderson, Rick Lyle, Brian Sanford, Nick Sorensen, and Luke Steckel — many of whom had heard it before.

“I’m from Hartford myself,” Mangini said. “And the campers here today are just like me and the kids I went to school with. They’re good kids, but a lot of them don’t have the best opportunities, and that includes good opportunities to hear from positive role models.”

“These kids are here today to play football,” Mangini continued. “But that’s also an excuse for you to talk to them as much as you can; To give them a positive message, to be a positive role model for them even for a day.”

Later that day, Mangini explained another purpose of the camp to NBC Connecticut’s Diana Russini. “I want kids to see that the other kids from Hartford are just like them,” he said. “And break down some stereotypes.”

“Our camp is a one-day, non-contact camp that will stress fundamentals, form and technique with our primary objective focusing on quality instruction for each and every player in a fun atmosphere. We not only hope to teach skills to make better football players, but just as importantly, we hope to stimulate the general interest in the game of football and promote the concept of teamwork. This will include emphasis on a good work ethic, motivation, self-discipline, and self-confidence. Only so much football can be taught in one day, so we take advantage of every minute we spend with the kids during our practice time. Our day will be intense and upbeat in tempo.”

Naturally the campers are especially tuned in for the uptake. When Mangini addressed this year’s group — 700-plus, despite torrential rain and wind that carried on for the entire morning and most of the afternoon — you could have heard a pin drop. Bellucci — who is also head football coach (and much more) at Hartford Public High School, the largest of Hartford’s inner city high schools — was quick to note that in ten years of putting on the camp, not a single camper out of the approximately 8,000 that have been through over the years had ever been removed for disciplinary reasons. This record stayed clean in 2012 as well.

The day is full of opportunities for meaningful interaction between the coaches and campers. In the morning session the campers rotate in small groups through a series of position drills, with two to four coaches manning each station (the Ryan Brothers’ defensive back v. receiver jump ball drill was the highlight here). The afternoon session consists of a multi-division 7-on-7 tournament, with each team assigned to 2-3 coaches.

Early on I spoke with a pair of former campers who were there to volunteer, two of Bellucci’s kids from Hartford Public who were about to graduate. One’s face lit up as he talked about the basic pass coverage skills he picked up at the camp (he’s a linebacker), and having the chance to learn from the likes of the Ryan Brothers, Brian Cox, and Brian Sanford, the latter being a graduate of Hartford Public himself.

The other said more stoically, “It’s good to see Coach giving back.”

This second volunteer had won a new laptop as one of the most outstanding campers at last year’s camp, but the computer was shortly stolen from his family’s apartment. One of this year’s laptop recipients asked for a garbage bag in which to carry his prize home to help prevent the same thing from happening to him.

The camp is open to any high-schooler who can make it there. The fee is $45, but many come for free on scholarships paid for by the Carmine and Frank Mangini Foundation or other sponsors (the Foundation counts a number of businesses, small and large, as sponsors, including headliners Samsung and PC Richard & Son). Campers come from all over New England as well as New York and New Jersey (Jackson notes that Teddy Atlas charters a bus for campers from NYC).

A high school coach from Waterbury, Connecticut — “a city ranked as having the worst quality of life of 300 U.S. metropolitan areas by Money Magazine in 1992″ — told me that the Foundation waived the fee for his entire team, and paid for meals for the bus rides to Hartford and back.

“It’s great for my kids,” he said. “Getting them out of Waterbury is one thing, but to get them all on the bus and to have them all together out of town in the off-season like this is an opportunity that we just wouldn’t have otherwise.”

The Ryan brothers have been volunteering at the camp for ten consecutive seasons, and most of the other NFL volunteers have been participating for at least a few years. This year, the Mangini camp fell during NFL training camp, and many of the coaches had to hurry back to their jobs, with some having to skip the afternoon 7-on-7 tournament to make it back on time. One who was able to stay was New York Jets tight ends coach and assistant offensive line coach Mike Devlin,** who played in 58 NFL games himself, including Super Bowl XXVIII with the Buffalo Bills, and with whom I was assigned to coach one of the 7-on-7 teams (most of the writers there, including ESPN’s Seth Wickersham and Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders, were installed as 7-on-7 coaches).

It was impressive to watch Devlin install the offense in about fifteen minutes, all from the same formation, starting with three small variations of the same play. As the team became increasingly comfortable with the plays, Devlin would methodically install additional variations on the fly. Watching the pro work helped make it especially clear that the camp benefits not just the players, but also the coaches in attendance (some of whom are basically kids themselves), and with Devlin’s brains and my moral support, our team cruised to the championship in our division.

We also had a really good quarterback, Cody Williams, from Springfield Central High in Springfield, Mass., and it might have also been a good thing that we didn’t have to play Schatz’s team. Anyway, all the kids were naturally fired up for the tournament, which was naturally a lot of fun. It also offered the day’s easiest opportunity for meaningful interaction with the campers, and by that point, my football camp spiel of things I wish someone would have said to me when I was a teenager was pretty well conditioned.

After the tournament, the campers and coaches all gather back in the now buzzing Bulkeley gym for the award ceremony. As I walked in whooping it up with with the guys from the 7-on-7 team (champs!), we approached Bellucci.

“The kid can play!,” I shouted about one of his Hartford Public guys who was on my team.

“Yeah,” Bellucci replied. “Talk to him about his grades.”

Bellucci’s kind and matter of fact delivery here made it clear that this kid had already heard it from his coach plenty. But one kid can only hear the same spiel so many times, no matter how authentic and well crafted it is, and no matter how much respect he has for the person delivering it. And not even the best spiel will get through to every kid, or even every really good kid. One coach, or set of coaches, or parents, or guardians can only do so much in even the best neighborhoods.

Talk to him about his grades. Talk to him about life. Everybody’s got a different angle.

It’s exactly what we were there for. Football was a great excuse.

—————

*I had a chance to speak with Rex Ryan for awhile before the camp started. I introduced myself by telling him that I was a Browns fan and blogger from Cleveland, and that what happened to Mangini in New York and then Cleveland made me resent Ryan and the Jets, even though it was no fault of Ryan himself. He responded by nodding and saying, “Eric has never had enough time,” meaning with the Jets or Browns as head coach. I also told Ryan that I started to come around on him because I admired his and his players’ response to media coverage of some photos alleged to be of his wife’s feet. He laughed and took his phone out of his pocket to show me the background photo on it, which was of his wife smiling, with a close-up of her feet kicked up out of a car door (similar to the photos that made the news in the first place). He said he had this photo blown up to various sizes and framed and posted all over his office, all facing out toward the entrance. He also told me that he had a bouquet of flowers and balloons anchored by a pair of giant plastic feet delivered to Patriots receiver Wes Welker, who had taken a press conference jab at Ryan about the foot thing.

I could write a book on how disgusted I am that he is no longer the head coach but that would have nothing to do with this article.

Thanks for giving back Eric. It also made me feel a little bit better about the Ryan brothers and all of the other people who give their time.

NeedsFoodBadly

Sometimes stuff Rex Ryan says raises my hackles, but damn if it isn’t hard not to like him and Rob.

Great work, Frowns.

dubbythe1

How many Frowns Barstool headstands were performed that day?

rodofdisaster

It says a lot when the guy who replaced you as well as other coaches from your former team are this loyal to you.

Bryan

#ReinstallMangini

https://twitter.com/jimkanicki jimkanicki

frowner, is coach cognizant of you, your blog, and your support of him? is there anything you can share personally?

ClevelandFrowns

Yes, yes, and yes. See below response to Bryan.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/ PML

Frownie, you need to make it your life’s goal to get an audience with Good Ole Jimmy and plead Mangini’s case for re-instatement. Kind of a reverse Dawg Pound Mike, if you will. And without the stupid.

http://twitter.com/JRichTCF Jeff Rich

Outstanding.

cyonx

Good thing I’m not wearing mascara.

c.scales

Mangini’s a class act, and says alot about the Ryan brothers!!

great article!!!

Bryan

I was curious about this too. Has Mangini ever gotten wind of your efforts?

ClevelandFrowns

Of course he has.

And they log in from Berea every day here. Or at least most days.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/ PML

Hey Mangini,

I’m officially offering you my QB skills whenever your next HC gig comes about – unless it’s in Western PA. I’ve got a rocket left arm and asian smarts – think Timmy Chang and Shane Falco times 10. You can thank me after we get our Fifth Lombardi Trophy.

actovegin1armstrong

“asian smarts”
As opposed to Anglo ignorance?
You need to take the quiz.
You may be a racist if….?

CleveLandThatILove

I am naming my next dog Mangini.

vespo09

Or Mangenius.

CleveLandThatILove

If it’s a girl.

p_forever

hahaha BEST COMMENT EVER

actovegin1armstrong

I do not get it.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/ PML

I thought it was Hillis.

CleveLandThatILove

Something else in my house already has that name.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/ PML

Your toilet?

CleveLandThatILove

That’s Big Ben, silly.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/ PML

Never mind

actovegin1armstrong

I have a bunch of dogs that need good homes.

Petefranklin

Any shar-peis?

acto

No, but give me a couple days and I will make one of these mutts look like one.

Alexb

1) I hope most of the people wanting mangini back weren’t the same people baying for his blood after just two seasons, in which we showed serious glimpses of building something
2) why on earth would Mangini come back? Even if personally he had an inclination to do so, we’ve already retooled the offense and defense. He’d have to start over “again”…not gonna happen.
3) Shurmur for some reason just doens’t pass the sniff test when you hear him talk….but I remember alot of people saying the same thing about Mangini. Every head coach in the NFL deserves at least 4 years, it takes around 3 just to impliment your new system and get the players that fit it. So just let it be…Cleveland runs all it’s coache’s and qb’s out of town cause they don’t immediately win. Remember who was our coach back in the 90’s before he went to NE? I’ll bet Cleveland fans would be trying to run Cowher out of town after 2 seasons if he agreed to come here.

so let’s just chill…..no good qb wants to come cleveland cause it takes about one game for people to start calling for his backup. I was at the game and people were yelling at McCoy to start warming up……u can’t run a football team like that. It might be painful that we wasted a stellar defensive performance….but just remember that Pgh and Bal defense’s don’t give a fuck what the O does, they take pride in their work. Balt won the SB in 2000 without the offense scoring a more than 10 points all season or something ridiculous like that.

GrandRapidsRustlers

1. Mangini will coach again in the NFL. This article shows that he is clearly well liked which is good enough to get a 3rd chance whether you agree with his style or not.

2. The Baltimore Ravens fired that coach who is now in New England.

3. Jimmy Haslam is going to clean house.

4. Never chill out around a dumpster fire.

Bryan

In response to point 1): Not sure if you are new here, but one of the main reasons many of the commenters here are loyal to Frowns is because we were are all diehard Mangini guys who never wanted him gone in the first place.

Re: point 3): Given that no one here was trying to run Mangini out of town, your point 3) doesn’t really hold water with this group. Most people here dislike Shurmur because, you know, he is a demonstrably incompetent head coach.

nj0

” I was at the game and people were yelling at McCoy to start warming up……u can’t run a football team like that”

I’m no McCoy fan and I do think that Weeden shouldn’t be judged too harshly since he’s a rookie, BUT… why can’t you run a team like that? Why can’t a coach say, “Wow. I was wrong. My rookie QB clearly isn’t ready for the speed of the game yet. He’s really struggling. Since we’re here to win and since we have a chance to do so today, I’m going to pull him and put someone else in, someone who probably increases our chances of victory.”

Why can’t you do that? The dreaded QB controversy? Don’t be afraid of that. The press is going to yap and the fans are going to chant the backups name regardless.

Heck, most of our QB controversies were debates over which out-of-the-league-in-two-years schmoes should start. Like remember that whole BQ/DA, flip-a-coin thing? That was his way of saying, neither of these guys is all that good. And guess what? He was right.

That’s what I loved about Mangini- he wasn’t afraid to court bad press if it meant giving his team the best chance to win.

https://twitter.com/jimkanicki jimkanicki

raises hand. i was ok pulling the trigger on mangini. but under the assumption holmgren would hire friend and lamonte client John Fox; not friend’s nephew lamonte client shurmur.

i got no problem requesting a do-over.

btw, views evolve. you probably dont hold the same world view as you did when you were 10, 20, or 30. so i dont quite get your point with the “hope most of the people wanting mangini back weren’t the same people baying for his blood” other than clear and flagrant trolling.

BIKI024

Cowher?

Petefranklin

I dont know if he would be the answer. Was he really a great coach or did he have superior talent? I dont recall him doing much without a good QB, but he would be a great start to being able to sign one in free agaency. BTW Cowher was my favorite substitute teacher of all time in 7th grade!

nj0

After the rabble run Shapiro out of town, I foresee him spending some time with Mangini roaming the countryside as vagabonds, searching for the meaning of life while seeking what America has to offer.

Every week – another town, another dysfunctional sports franchise in need of some coaching or organizational help. Ride into trouble, outwit the evil owner/land developer/local sports writer, touch some lives, and then back on those HD Sportsters, revving down that wide, wide open road.

“Taking a trip?”
“What’s that?”
“Taking a trip?”
“Yeah.”
“Where to?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Wherever I end up, I guess.”
“Man, I wish I was you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, hang in there.”

Beeej

and in the last 10 minutes of the show they’ll build an awesome wheelchair/tank/flamethrower device out of spare parts they found in an old abandoned garage. Then they’ll shoot up the ground and patrol vehicles of the corrupt local cops before hauling ass out of town in their custom painted black with red accents panel van before the U.S. army gets em’.

actovegin1armstrong

Watch out, Beeej is on the Biki lettuce again.

Beeej

Just having a little Browns/A Team/Easy Rider (that was Easy Rider right?) related fun. Although some lettuce would definitely make watching Browns games more entertaining. “Are you guys seeing what I’m seeing? Is that a dumpster on fire in the middle of the field? Shumur is totally stoned too.” Then, the next day, I’ll have forgotten that I watched the game so there is nothing to be mad about on Monday. Win-win-win.

Whats the all play this week? Am I correct by saying that we have to pick at least one pro and one college game weekly?

Petefranklin

CHEDDAR BAY PICK #1 essay rutgers +8 Just too many points for an overrated USF squad. This is a bad line, USF’s QB is probably the best in this game but has underperformed this year even though his stats dont say so,because he faced two lousy defenses with terrible secondarys. He (Daniels) creates on the move out of the pocket which should be stopped by Rutgers’ strong suit which is their Defense, the best unit in the big east which may not say all that much but will be far better than USF’s previous opponents. On offense look for the Knights to ware down USF with their ground game led by rb Jameson who has two 100 yard games this year vs Tulane and Howard, yeah LOL I guess but then look at the #’s in this series, RU 3of 4 SU, 7-3 ATS on thurs.,6-2-1 ats vs teams with a winning record, USF 1-8 ATS last 9 conference games, AND 0-8 ATS LAST EIGHT THURSDAY GAMES!!! Add it all up and after Rutgers survives the initial home surge, look for them to grind out a cover against USF who leaves the backdoor wide open at this price!

nice write up….i so wish Mangini was still the Head Coach here. it’s like a punch in the gut to know the browns FINALLY had a competent HC & now…..ask pat. the only saving grace is haslam won’t tolerate the bob lamonte show….how ironic would it be if haslam brought back Mangini to let him finish what he started….
Mike, Dover

ClevelandFrowns

Mike from Dover!

We are in the presence of greatness, people.

http://profile.yahoo.com/BQTEGZW3BCTX4ZDEN4PVU4GBBM Ed

oh stop pete..you’re making me blush!…
.actually those are blood stains from gouging my eyes out about 430 last sunday

The Cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugs

Thanks for giving back Frowns! If you do go back, I would be all about renting a Winnebago and trekking up north with ya

Hk Brown

Thanks. Good article. The camp takes a great deal of work by a very dedicated and talented group of volunteers. The camp is a very good program for kids in the northeast.

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